To the Stars
by BitterRenegade
Summary: They were the two best pilots in the Alliance. Now they were with Cerberus. But Sabrina Shepard's death changed them both, and it's difficult to build up trust after it's been destroyed. Follows ME2. Sequel to "Co-Pilot" Warnings: OC's.
1. Prologue

_Authors note: This is the sequel to the story 'Co-Pilot' that may or may not get re-titled sometime soon. Please, read "Co-Pilot" before reading this one. Thank you and I hope to read some reviews from you all!_

_Summary: They were the two best pilots in the Alliance. Now they were with Cerberus. But Sabrina Shepard's death changed them both, and it's difficult to build up trust after it's been destroyed. Follows ME2. Sequel to "Co-Pilot" Warnings: OC's._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Bioware, mass effect, or anything really. Other than this story. Which is totally mine._

~*~  
To the Stars  
Chapter 1: Prologue  
~*~

Since Sabrina Shepard had defeated Sovereign, the Council had been sending us to wipe out geth resistance. Personally, I thought it was a complete waste of time. Luckily, I was working with people that I trusted and cared for. That was really the only thing that made doing pretty much nothing bearable.

"Disengaging FTL drives… Emission sinks active." Jeff told me with a smile.

"Board's green, we're running silent." I finished, Pressly coming up behind us.

"We're wasting our time. Four days searching up and down this sector and we haven't found any sign of geth activity."

"You're telling me."

"Three ships went missing here in the past month. Something happened to them."

"My money's on slavers. The Terminus System's crawling with them."

"Oh, are we making this a bet? Because I love betting."

Ensign Talitha Draven spoke up, "Picking up something on the long-range scanner. Unidentified vessel. Looks like a cruiser."

Jeff looked it over on our screens "Doesn't match any known signatures."

"Cruiser is changing course. Now on intercept trajectory…" Talitha told us, a hint of worry in her voice.

Pressly shot her down with disbelief "Can't be. Stealth systems are engaged. There's no way a geth ship could possib-"

"It's not the geth." Jeff realized "Brace for evasive maneuvers!"

A nearby explosion caused Pressly to fall "Pressly!" I shouted, "Talitha-"An explosion from her console broke the young woman's neck instantly. I paled and focused my attention on my teammate "Oh god. Jeff, Kinetic barriers down."

"Multiple hull breaches. Weapons offline." He began tapping the console in a panic "Somebody get that fire out!"

I stood up, grabbing the extinguisher and tossed a breathing mask to Jeff "Put that on." I snapped, putting one on my face as well. Kaidan soon came onto the bridge.

"You two get on the evac shuttles-"

"No! I can save her!" Jeff snapped at the sentinel, causing the other man to grab him by the shoulder.

In response, I placed a gentle hand on Kaidan's arm "You find Shepard. I'll stay with Jeff."

Kaidan opened his mouth to argue, but at my glare he nodded and left.

"Jeff, we can't save her." I told my friend gently, resting a hand on his shoulder. He glared up at me, rage in his eyes.

"I can! Just help me already CP!"

"Jeff!" I snapped "You-"

"Kim, please. Just trust me."

I stared at him for a moment, groaning in annoyance and taking a seat "You owe me." I grumbled. He just had to pull the 'Trust me' card. "Mayday, mayday, mayday! This is SSV Normandy! We've suffered heavy damage from an unknown enemy." I spoke into the communications console.

"Come on baby, hold together… Hold together…." Jeff muttered, and I looked at him again as our comm channels began to get cut out.

"Jeff, nothing's coming through. We need to go; this ship's going to crash." I told him again.

"I can save her!" Jeff shouted stubbornly.

"Joker! Kim! Come on we have to get out of here!" Sabrina exclaimed, and I stood up instantly.

"Sabrina why're you here? You gotta get off the ship it's dangerous-"

"It's not dangerous!" Jeff snapped "I won't abandon the Normandy! I can still save her!"

"The Normandy's lost!" Sabrina snapped back "Going down with the ship won't change that."

At her words, finally the truth seeped into the man's mind as he sighed. Defeated, Jeff looked away from the two of us "Yeah, ok… Help me up."

Looking at our scanners again, I stood up quickly, "They're coming around for another attack!" I shouted as Sabrina grabbed Jeff and pulled him over her shoulder.

"Ah! Watch the arm!"

I jumped into the evac pod and Sabrina passed Jeff over to me. "I got him Sabs, come on-"

The wall next to her exploded, sending her away from us.

"NO!"

"SHEPARD!"

"SABRINA! WAIT!"

She hit the button to release the pod, staring into my eyes the entire time. As the doors closed, I fell to the floor.

"No! No!" I screamed, banging on the door pitifully. Ashley… Ashley died on me, but Sabrina… "Not you too… Sabrina…" I sobbed "I don't want to be alone…"

"Kim…" Jeff whispered, and instantly my gaze turned on him.

It was his fault.

"This is all your fault!"

Because all he wanted to save was the Normandy.

"I'm sorry-"

He didn't give a fuck about Sabrina or me and if it weren't for Sabrina then we would be dead with her.

"I HATE YOU!"

It was all his fault.


	2. Lazarus Research Station

_Disclaimer: I don't own Bioware, mass effect, or anything really. Other than this story. Which is totally mine._

_Thought it might be fun to tell all of you what the import data is…  
Sabrina Shepard completed every side quest, by the way. She ended a paragon. Rachni queen? Alive. That asari chick that the Thorian had inside of it? Alive... along with all the colonists. Wrex? Pfft. Alive. Obviously. Not even for a story would I kill Wrex. Also, she didn't shoot Conrad. Hmm… Oh, and she killed Ashley. I was very upset with that choice. Tali, Garrus, and Wrex's little side quests have been completed in a paragon fashion—Except for Garrus's. Sabrina was all like "Shoot that lizard." She also visited Chakwas a lot, and was besties with Tali. Liara…? Well, she was friendly with Liara too. And she romanced Kaidan._

_Kimberly Kogan, Co-Pilot of the SSV Normandy has achievements instead :P Simply because I thought some of you would enjoy it.  
Alien Friendly: Befriended ¾ aliens on the Normandy. (Garrus, Tali, Wrex.)  
Soldier's BBF: Befriended Ashley Williams instead of Kaidan.  
Respected: Proved her flying skills to Joker. (On Therum)  
Unknown Past: Didn't tell anyone about her past. (She totally could have. But she didn't.)  
Strawberry Lover: Drank strawberry margaritas with Joker.  
Reaper Slayer: Landed the killing blow on Sovereign.  
Offer Rejected!: Rejected Admiral Hackett's offer.  
Pilot's Best Friend: Became the best friend of Joker, whether she knows it or not._

~*~  
To the Stars  
Chapter 2: Lazarus Research Station  
~*~

When Sabrina died the Alliance grounded me.

I'd heard that Jeff had gotten grounded too. After Sabrina died, he'd tried to contact me. I never responded. Kaidan and the rest of the ground crew came to visit me after the funeral. I'd received all of Sabrina's creds and the apartment that we inherited when Damian died… Tali and Liara stayed for a night to make sure I could function. When they left…

It would've been an understatement to say that I was functioning badly.

I couldn't stand the Alliance anymore. All of what Sabrina did was thrown into an incinerator. Nobody believed in the Reapers… I just couldn't do it. Garrus went off the grid, and eventually I stopped attempting to contact anyone from the old Normandy.

One night when I was drinking in a local bar, Cerberus agents found me.

"We're reviving Commander Shepard." A woman with beautiful black hair and a perfect body told me "And we thought we'd extend an offer for you to join us."

I snorted, holding up my glass "First I'll need proof." I told her, because really… Bringing Commander Sabrina Shepard back to life? That just sounded crazy. Or at least, more crazy than I was used to.

"I can take you to our facility." She told me "I'm Miranda by the way, Ms. Kogan."

"When can I see her?" I asked Miranda tiredly, taking another sip.

"We can leave as early as tomorrow."

"And let's say I join you… What would you have me do?"

"Well, you were one of the best pilots in the Alliance. You've worked with Sabrina before, so we'd want you to be her co-pilot, shuttle pilot, and you'd also be allowed on the ground with her if she wanted you to."

"We'll see. First I need to see her."

The next morning, the Cerberus operative waited for me by my apartment, taking me to the shuttle. Stepping into the Kodiak and sitting down, Miranda took a seat next to me and spoke up "I read through your dossier. I'm surprised the Alliance grounded you, your achievements are more than enough to make up for Shepard's death."

"Thanks. I think." I replied coldly before returning to my thoughts.

A few hours later we arrived at the base and Miranda led me out of the shuttle bay.

"Welcome to the Lazarus base. I'll be sure to give you a room as secluded as you wish for your stay here." She informed me "Now right this way, and you'll get to see your Commander again."

Walking down the bright hallways I began to miss the darkness of my apartment, the Normandy, and the bars I was used to now. Miranda led me into a lab, and that's when I saw her. The dark haired, tanned skin woman I'd been proud to call my Commander and friend was lying on an operating table, unconscious.

I smiled.

A part of me couldn't believe that she was being brought back to life, but I couldn't exactly complain. I missed her so much.

I couldn't lose her again.

"How long until she wakes up?" I asked the Cerberus operative, not taking my eyes off my old friend.

"A month and a half. Maybe two." Miranda told me "Have you made a decision?"

I looked into Miranda's eyes "I'm in. But, uh, what are you guys going to do with Sabrina?"

"Numerous colonies have gone dark." She explained "We want Shepard to find out what's going on and stop it."

I nodded, thoughtful "Wait, so if I'm the co-pilot who's the pilot going to be?"

"I'm afraid that will be classified for a little while longer Ms. Kogan."

A twinge of suspicion began to rise in my gut, but I nodded. "Of course. Thank you for bringing me here Miranda, could you show me my room?"

It didn't take long for me to adjust to living at the Cerberus base. Most of the staff acted friendly towards me, Jacob Taylor being kind enough to train with me while I waited for Sabrina to wake up. Sometimes Miranda would even allow me to use one of the shuttles and work on my piloting skills again. Then one month after I'd joined Cerberus, all hell broke loose.

All of the security mechs in the base began to slaughter everyone. At the time I'd been with Jacob in D-wing, and we holed up on one of the bridges leading to the labs. After a while we'd begun to run low on ammo, and that's when Sabrina showed up.

"Sabrina!" I shouted, "Stop standing there like dumbass and get behind cover!"

The sentinel quickly dived behind cover at my words "Although I'm happy to see you Keys, what the hell is going on here?!"

I snorted, grinning at Sabrina cheerfully before opening my mouth "How's about we finish killing the mechs before we talk?"

"That would be preferred." Jacob added "We're low on ammo, but I'm a biotic."

Sabrina's fingers glowed with her biotic abilities as she nodded at the man "So let's save our ammo."

As soon as all the mechs fell, I pulled Sabrina into a hug. She was alive, she was alive. I'd never been happier in my life, "I am so glad you're all right."

Jacob coughed, and I pulled away. This wasn't the time. I had to be serious, we had to escape. Otherwise it wouldn't matter that Sabrina was alive.

"Ready to get the hell off this station?"


	3. Freedom's Progress and the Normandy

_Disclaimer: I don't own Bioware, mass effect, or anything really. Other than this story. Which is totally mine._

~*~  
To the Stars  
Chapter 3: Freedom's Progress and the Normandy  
~*~

Sabrina, Jacob, Miranda, and I escaped from the Lazarus station. As it turned out, Miranda's assistant had been the cause of the whole mess. The minute Miranda had seen the traitor; she shot him in the face. Then we got into a shuttle and left.

Sadly I hadn't been able to talk to Sabrina as we headed to another base, specifically the Minuteman Station in the Horse Head Nebula. Instead I flew the Kodiak while Jacob and Miranda spoke to the commander. After we'd docked, Sabrina pulled me aside.

"Are you ok?" She asked me, and I smiled at her.

"Sabs, that's what I should be asking you." I told her "But I'm ok now, I swear. I'm really happy that you're alive again."

"Shepard, the Illusive Man wishes to speak with you." Miranda called, obviously wanting Sabrina to hurry.

The two of us agreed to catch up later, and the N7 sentinel left to speak with the head of Cerberus. Miranda told me that I wouldn't be coming along on the next mission, and that another shuttle pilot would be taking them on the next mission. Hiding my disappointment with her decision, I nodded my acceptance before a male Cerberus operative with honey brown hair and inquisitive pale blue eyes led me away. The man gave me a charming smile and introduced himself Crewman Eric Ross, telling me that he was going to be working on Sabrina's new ship with me.

"Ms. Lawson thought that you should rest," Eric explained as he led me to my room "I gotta say though, I read about you on the extranet. I think you're pretty amazing. Best female pilot in the Alliance, I heard. And you took that last hit on the Reaper, right?"

I nodded at the man "Thank you Mr. Ross. And yes, I fired the kill shot."

Eric's smile was contagious, and it almost felt like we'd been friends forever. Eventually though, we'd reached the living quarters and Eric told me he had to get back to work.

Before he left, the blue-eyed crewman sent me his Omni-code "Oh! I'll be back in a few hours to take you to the docking bay. Get some rest, Ms. Kogan."

For the next few hours I relaxed until Eric came by again. We chatted about ourselves until we'd reached the docking bay.

"By the way, the Commander just came back from Freedom's Progress. You could wait out here for her if you'd like." He suggested with another charming smile on his face. When I told him that I would wait for Sabrina to arrive, Eric told me that if I needed anything he'd be on the ship.

Once he was gone, I stood and stared. The large windows allowed me to gaze at the ship, a replica of the original Normandy only bigger and decorated with Cerberus colours. I couldn't help but feel at peace. Sabrina was back, I was going to fly again. It was almost like a dream come true.

"-an't believe it's you Joker."

I paled. It couldn't be.

"Look who's talking, I saw you get spaced."

It was.

Sabrina's laugh rang through the hallway "Got lucky, with a lot of strings attached. How'd you get here?"

Now I knew why Miranda kept who I was going to be working with a secret. It all made sense now.

"Everything just fell apart without you Commander. Everything you stirred up? The Council just wanted it gone. Team was broken up, records sealed, Kim and I were grounded." Jeff told her, and I began to feel sick.

Everything did fall apart with Sabrina gone, so why did they bring _him_ back?

"The Alliance took away the one thing that mattered to me. Hell yah I joined Cerberus."

Of course flying was the only thing that mattered to him.

"Even got them to extend the offer to Kim."

…What?

"You really trust the Illusive Man?"

"Well-"

Jeff went silent as soon as he saw me. Tension was practically flooding the room as we stared at each other.

Sabrina looked between the two of us with a curious expression on her face. "Uh… Did I miss something? Did Joker break one of your toys? It better not have been that tiger one I bought you or so help me Joker I will make you climb some stairs!" She smiled, hoping that would break the tension.

It didn't.

"Do you really trust this guy to be your pilot?" I snapped instantly, causing Jeff to look away from me.

The commander approached me, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder while Jeff stayed quiet "Kim, it was an accident. None of us could've know that I-" Sabrina gulped "-That we were going to get attacked. Nothing could have stopped it."

I glared at the ground, angry tears pooling in my eyes "It doesn't change what happened."

Sabrina nodded understandingly, pulling me into a hug "I trust Joker. And I know that deep down; a part of you does too. It's ok for you to be angry over what happened, but… I need the both of you here with me, ok?" She whispered into my ear. Defeated, I nodded my agreement.

Released from the hug, I approached Jeff warily. It had been two years since I'd last seen him, and I didn't know how time had affected him.

I knew how it affected me though.

"Hey."

He smiled at me weakly "Hey CP."

"I'd just like to let you know that next time I tell you that we should abandon ship, you damn well better listen to me." I growled, to which he let out a small chuckle.

"Sure thing."

A tiny weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. I didn't trust him yet, that would still take a while, but I realized that a part of me had missed him. We were a team after all, friends, and…

"You look a bit older now," Jeff noted nervously "More adult."

"And you're not using crutches," I awkwardly replied, pointing at his legs "What happened…?"

"Cerberus put some implants in. I'm still, uh, adjusting." Jeff told me, fixing his hat "So… Did you see the ship?"

We grinned at each other tiredly and I nodded "Yeah, I did."

The three of us moved in front of the window, Sabrina smiling with us as we gazed at the ship.

"It's good to be home, huh, you guys?" Jeff spoke softly.

Sabrina and I nodded our agreement, the commander speaking up "I guess we'll just have to give her a name."

I rolled my eyes "Really Sabs? I think we all know her name already."

The three of us spoke in unison.

"Normandy."


	4. To Omega

_Disclaimer: I don't own Bioware, mass effect, or anything really. Other than this story. Which is totally mine.  
_

_Authors Note: Omfg guys i'm SO sorry! It's been such a long time, but I've been busy with school stuff. I'm also directing a play, so that's been taking up a ton of my time. x( Oh well, I'm back now! So... :P Hope I still have some readers.  
_

~*~  
To the Stars  
Chapter 4: To Omega  
~*~

The Normandy SR-2 was a lot… brighter than the first one. Cerberus really liked the colour white. Luckily, the lights in the cockpit were dimmer than the rest of the Normandy. Plus, we got leather seats. I only had one problem with the ship.

"I feel like I'm being replaced by an AI." I stated loudly, sighing.

"Do not worry Ms. Kogan. You and Mr. Moreau's talents will not go to waste, as I have just informed Commander Shepard." The AI, EDI, replied.

"Thanks EDI," I sighed "But that still doesn't make me feel any better about it. Next thing I know you'll have control of the ship. I'd bet a thousand credits on it."

"Don't even joke about that." Jeff grumbled, obviously annoyed by the fact that Cerberus installed an AI in our ship.

I rolled my eyes at the pilot and smiled at EDI's console "Oh, and EDI? Please just call me Kim; I don't really like being called 'Ms. Kogan' constantly."

"Of course, Kim."

Jeff coughed into his earpiece "Final preparations for takeoff are complete, Commander. When you're ready to go just pick a destination from the galaxy map in the CIC and we'll plot a course."

"_Let's head to Omega guys."_

"I've never been to Omega before," I realized, beginning to plot a course.

"Kim, I have already plotted a course to Omega." EDI told me, and I held back the urge to go to the AI core and disassemble her. I could get used to her being around, but…

She was stealing my _job_.

Sighing, I looked over at Jeff "So… How've you been these last couple of years?" I asked him, feeling awkward still.

It was weird working with him again.

"Spent some time on Tiptree, got implants in my legs to make them stronger." He shrugged "Heavy muscle weaves, you know? I'll still have a limp but it's nice to not have to use crutches, or worry about breaking a bone every step." A tense pause followed before Jeff spoke up again "I'd heard from Kaidan that you hadn't been settling very well. He was pretty upset when you quit the Alliance."

I snorted "They weren't doing anything. So I quit." Glancing back at the screens, I sighed "Pretty sure Anderson tried to keep an eye on me, for Sabrina. I kept in contact with Garrus for a while but he went off the grid."

We fell into another strained silence.

After we'd hit the relay, Sabrina walked into the cockpit.

"How're you two?"

We glanced at each other before grinning up at Sabrina. With her around, we felt more at ease.

"Two words Sabrina. Leather. Seats." I told her seriously, Jeff smirking on the side. "Hardware's ok too."

"It's our baby, better than new! Fits like a glove. On a first gen frigate the Alliance could care less about making the seats breathe."

"The reproduction is not intended to be perfect, Mr. Moreau. Seamless improvements were made."

At EDI's voice, Jeff's face fell. "And there's the downside. I liked the Normandy when she was beautiful and quiet. Now she's got this thing I don't want to talk about. It's like ship cancer."

I chocked on my laugh, "It's not that bad, Jeff. It's pretty much the same ship as before, just hit the mute button."

Sabrina sighed "It's not the same ship you two. There's nothing here that was even part of the real Normandy."

Crossing my arms, I pouted up at Sabrina "What about us?"

Jeff sighed "I'll take what I can get. These last two years sucked."

"Agreed." I mumbled, stretching.

"Well, you'll see Shepard. Even if an AI is spying on us, no way they'll invest this much just to screw us over."

It was silent for a moment before I spoke up "It's Cerberus. Five-hundred credits say that they'll screw us over."

"Seriously?" Jeff sighed "You know what, I'm in. Five-hundred credits say that they won't screw us over."

"I'm taking Kim's side." Sabrina called, and I recorded the bet on my Omni-tool.

I was so going to win this.

"Anyways, what I'm saying is this'll be better than the old days." The chief helmsman told us confidently, to which Sabrina laughed good naturedly.

"I hope so, I died."

"You are such a downer." Jeff scoffed, turning back to the controls. I glared at the pilot, what was his problem?

Sabrina stayed for a short while longer to talk to us and make sure we were ok with everything that was going on. The exchange between the three of us eased the tension in the cockpit, and once she was gone I sighed in defeat.

"So… I guess I should just… Well, Sabrina's back now." I stumbled over my words "So I guess things are… are they ok between us?"

Jeff glanced at me, smiling carefully "CP, I killed her the first time. I don't want you to force yourself to be ok with that, you can be mad at me for as long as you want. But if you want things to be good between us… we're good."

I sighed "I just need some time to adjust. Maybe a week or so, it's been awhile."

"Well, we can catch up later. I think I owe you a strawberry margarita."

Laughter bubbled out of my throat "I can only imagine what you owe Sabrina then."

At that, the two of us fell into a comfortable silence, the only noises coming from our control panels as we flew to Omega.


	5. Meeting the Crew

~*~  
To the Stars  
Chapter 5: Meeting the Crew  
~*~

We'd been parked in Omega for about five galactic hours, and I was bored. Jeff and EDI had been bickering about the grease on her bridge cameras, and Sabrina still wasn't back yet. She had, however, sent a mercenary onto our ship.

Personally, I didn't like him. He looked like a total badass but I just had a bad feeling about him.

Finally, Sabrina stepped onto the Normandy with Jacob and Miranda behind her. The two Cerberus operatives went back to their work stations while Sabrina headed up to the cockpit to talk to us.

"Hey Kim, Joker. How're things going up here?"

"EDI and I were just having a conversation about personalization of our workspace."

"Cerberus regulations are clear, Mr. Moreau. Personalization does not include grease on my bridge cameras." EDI replied in a tone that I could only describe as… annoyed.

Jeff chuckled "It's just mad that all of its footage of me looks like a dream sequence."

I sighed "This is insane. Jeff, just apologize and clean the cameras."

"What?!" Jeff responded with shock "You're siding with it?!"

"Only because I'm feeling like the third wheel with you two bickering like an old married couple. And you did mess up her cameras so…" At that, I looked behind Sabrina, clapping my hands when I saw a salarian board the ship "Oh cool! New crew!" I cheered "Permission to introduce myself?"

Sabrina shrugged "Go ahead. You ok with it Joker?"

"I can't believe you sided with the AI." Jeff sighed before nodding absently "I don't have a problem with it."

With their permission I stood up and walked past the CIC. Stepping into the lab, I knocked on the wall and waved when the salarian looked up at me.

"Hello," I greeted "I'm-"

"Human, small for age. Marine? No, trained but no weapon. Engineer? No, hands unscarred. Pilot? But Joker is the pilot- Ahh… You must be Kim, co-pilot. Shepard mentioned you. Said you enjoyed becoming friends with aliens." He smiled at me "I'm Mordin Solus, can call me Mordin if you wish. Will be busy soon but can chat for a short time."

"So you're a scientist, right?"

"Yes. Will be working on way to protect from seeker swarms." He told me.

"Try bug spray?" I suggested, unsure.

He laughed, shaking his head "Good sense of humor. Really should get to work now, can talk later if you wish."

I nodded cheerfully "Talk to you later then, Mordin. Call if you need any help!"

As I left, I realized that I wouldn't mind helping out the other crew members around the ship. With EDI installed, I felt pretty useless in the cockpit. Of course, I'd have to get Jeff and Sabrina's permission but…

"Hey there Ms. Kogan."

Looking up I saw the familiar grin of Crewman Eric Ross, and I smiled back at the man "Hello Mr. Ross, what's up?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to check out the shuttle with me." He replied easily "Since you're going to be one of the pilots for it. Unless you're needed in the cockpit, though I really don't know what you'd do with the Normandy docked."

Jeff's voice buzzed over the comm loudly _"Hey CP, if you're going to hang with your boyfriend at least bring me some snacks later."_

Rolling my eyes, I agreed to go with Eric "Sorry about that, let's go check out that shuttle. Oh, and please call me Kim."

Eric laughed, nodding "As long as you call me Eric then. And it's no problem; I'm guessing Joker just feels a little bit left out."

Following the taller man to the elevator, we went down to the shuttle bay. The two of us spent a few hours getting to know each other better and Eric taught me a few emergency shuttle repair tricks that I might need to know for the future. After about an hour I'd said my goodbyes and took the elevator back up to the CIC. It stopped on the engineering deck, two other crew members stepping inside and smiling at me.

One of them was a female with tidy, short dark hair and pretty greenish eyes "Hello," She greeted with a nod "Flight Officer Kogan, right? I'm Gabriella Daniels. This-" She nodded towards the taller male with chestnut coloured hair and hazel eyes "-Is Ken."

The man shook my hand with a wink, speaking with a brogue "Kenneth Donnelly at your service lass."

I smiled at the two of them awkwardly "It's nice to meet you, um, you can call me Kim. It's easier and Cerberus isn't that hard-core about regs, you know?"

The two engineers nodded their agreement "Sure thing Kim. What were you doing down in the shuttle bay?" Ken asked me, Gabby jabbing him in the side.

"She's also the shuttle pilot genius." The woman hissed, and I couldn't help but smile at the two of them.

If they weren't already a couple, they would definitely be a cute one.

Kenneth grinned at me warily "We're just heading to the mess hall for some food, want to join us?"

Remembering Jeff's request for food, I nodded and stepped out of the elevator with them onto the crew deck. The two engineers joked around with each other and kindly allowed me to make a few comments during our shitty meal… No offense to Gardner's cooking, but it was pretty bad. I made a mental note to get Sabrina's permission to get some real food from Omega while we were still docked.

"Shepard mentioned that you'd have a lot of free time because of EDI," Kenneth began, "Gabby and I play a game of poker every now and then. If you'd like, you could join us too."

There was no way I was going to cut back on gambling on this ship.

"I'm in. Let's trade Omni-codes? Send me a message next time…"

Gabby smiled at me "Sure thing Kim."

Waving goodbye to Gabby and Ken, I entered the elevator and took it up to the CIC and began to walk to the cockpit. Taking my seat next to Jeff, he glanced at me for a moment, smirking.

"So, meeting the crew?" Silent for a moment, he gave me an accusing glare "How come…?"

I stopped him "Food sucks on this ship." Brushing my dark brown bangs away from my eyes, I sighed "Is Sabrina still here? I want to ask her if I can go buy us something edible."

Jeff shook his head "You just missed her. She took Mordin and Zaeed with her to meet with some sexy, badass asari."

Rolling my eyes, I quickly sent the commander an Omni-message before glancing around awkwardly "Do you think there'd be a high chance of me getting shot if I stepped onto Omega wearing my Cerberus clothes?"


	6. Salvage

_Author's Note: Apologies for not updating sooner! Finals are coming up soon and I've also begun a tiny project... Building my own N7 armor! But I really am truly sorry for taking so long to update. Many thanks to my reviewers and whoever's still reading this story. :P_

_Disclaimer: I only own Kim. And other my other OC's... And this story, mostly. Go Bioware!_

~*~  
To the Stars  
Chapter 6: Salvage  
~*~

As soon as I'd mentioned stepping onto Omega wearing my Cerberus uniform Jeff had quickly thrown that idea out the airlock. EDI had then voiced that the chance of me getting shot would be ninety-eight point seventy-six percent before mentioning that Sabrina had some clothing in her cabin that I might be able to wear.

So there I was; digging through Sabrina's drawers to find the only outfit that didn't scream 'Cerberus!' and it was pretty damn ugly. Pulling the brown material over myself, I glared at my reflection. Sabrina was bigger than me, in muscle and in height, so the outfit looked odd. Of course, on anyone the outfit would look odd. It was like… brown cloth overalls, with purple arm warmers.

Sighing, I promised to get myself some new clothes while I was on Omega. It definitely wouldn't hurt.

Exiting the ship (And ignoring the teasing remarks from Jeff about my clothes) I followed the signs to the direction of the Markets. After a while, I'd realized that I didn't know where I was. On the Citadel it was easy to know where you were going, but on Omega… I jumped back as a vorcha growled at me, nearly crashing into a young quarian man.

"Whoa! Careful, are you ok?" He asked me, and I grinned at him nervously "You must be new here… I'm Kenn."

"I'm Kim, and uh… I'm kind of lost."

I could sense a smile emanating off of him as he nodded "I can see that. Not a lot of people come down here, mostly vorcha…"

"Then why are you down here?" I asked him, and he awkwardly shrugged.

"I own a shop down here." Kenn explained, "I just stepped out for a bit to get some things. Where were you going?"

"I'm trying to find the markets," I told him "You know, to get some food and new clothes. Could you direct me…?"

"Sure thing ma'am." He tapped a few buttons on his Omni-tool, transferring a file to mine "That's a map of Omega. Should help you get around."

I transferred two-hundred credits to his account "Thanks Kenn, it was nice meeting you!" Smiling at the quarian once more, I turned to leave.

He seemed like such a nice kid…

Stopping, I turned back to him "Hey, why are you on Omega anyways? Pilgrimage, right?"

Kenn nodded, confused "Yes, how did you know?"

Shrugging back at the boy I replied "I'm friends with a quarian so… Yeah. But Omega doesn't seem like the kind of place anyone would want to be."

"It isn't. What money I had got stolen within a few days so… I decided to sell salvaged parts." Kenn told me "This other woman bought most of what I had even though I have to sell pretty high, but I still don't have enough credits to get off this rock." He grumbled, and a wave of pity went through me.

Poor kid was never going to get off this station alone.

Checking my account balance I quickly transferred a thousand credits to his account "That should be enough." I told him "Get a ticket and get out of here."

Had I been able to see past the purple glow of his mask, I was sure I would have seen Kenn's eyes widen "I can't let you do this, this is my mistake on my Pilgramage. It's my prob-"

"Kid, listen… If you stay here you're probably never going to be able to leave working alone." I told him "I have more than enough credits to last, you don't. Plus, if your money got stolen in the first place… I would take these credits, and whatever credits you've earned so far and leave before it happens again. You seem like a good kid, so don't stick around here."

Silence came between us as my words sunk into his mind before he spoke up "I… Thank you Kim. I'll never forget this." Glancing around he typed something up on my Omni-tool before turning to leave.

Once he was gone, I sighed. Sometimes being a good person was expensive, so now if I was going to get decent food I probably wouldn't be able to get new clothes…

Checking my newly acquired map, I smirked. Of course this place had a casino, but it was in the VIP section of Afterlife. Frowning, I pondered the possibility of not being able to get in. Sighing again, I warily opened the message Kenn had sent me and grinned.

_To: Kim  
From: Kenn_

_I don't have any way to pay you back properly, but I heard about a way to get into the VIP section of Afterlife. Just mention the name 'Jaruut' and you should be allowed in._

_Thanks again.  
Kenn_

Kenn was definitely worth the credits. I hoped that he'd finish his Pilgrimage safely, and not get himself in any more trouble.

Following my map to the club, I quickly mentioned the name to the doorman before stepping inside. The loud beats of the crap that everyone here seemed to call music instantly annoyed me. However, I _was_ only there to earn a few extra credits so I couldn't let it bother me. Taking a seat at a Skyllian Five table, I looked at the others around me. One of them was an asari that gave me… chills. A pretty human girl was sitting next to her, happy to just watch the blue-skinned alien gamble. The rest I didn't get any bad feelings from. Two human males, a turian…

I grinned cheerfully at the players "Hope you don't mind if I join in."

The turian's mandibles flickered "I don't have a problem with it. These two," He gestured towards the human males "were starting to run out of money anyways."

One of the humans, a younger looking man with asian looking features, glared at the turian bitterly "Not for long."

Smirking, all I could do was think about how they were going to feel after a few rounds with me.

After all, I had a wonderful poker face.

It didn't take long before the two human males were out of credits and grudgingly left. The turian, whose name was Adrius, was also growing increasingly annoyed by how often and how much I was winning. The asari didn't really seem to care, although she did seem a little bit intrigued.

"All in!" I sang, grinning at Adrius who sighed and folded.

"I'm not risking any more credits." He told me, curt "Good game, miss."

Once he was gone, I began to feel nervous again when I realized that it was only me, the human girl and the asari left.

"So… What are you going to do, fold or go all in?" I asked the asari awkwardly, the human girl giggling for seemingly no reason while the asari replied.

"I'm afraid I'll have to fold." She sighed, smiling at me with a devious twinkle in her eyes "You're a very good gambler, miss…?"

Collecting my winnings, I absently replied "I'm Kim," I told her before standing up "Well, I'm afraid I'll have to go now. It was nice meeting you…"

The asari smiled at me "Morinth. This is Nef, maybe I'll see you again sometime…"

Warning bells were ringing in my mind, this woman made me uncomfortable "Yeah, maybe. Well, bye!" Chills continued to roll down my spine, and I didn't feel safe again until I'd successfully left the VIP area. Blinking my eyes to adjust to the different lights, I sighed in relief.

I was never going back in there again.

Walking down to the markets, I cheerfully spent my winnings on new clothes and good food to share with Jeff. Sadly, my mood was ruined as soon as I'd returned to the Normandy.

Stepping into the cockpit, the first thing I heard was Sabrina's voice over our consoles screaming at us to tell Chakwas to be ready.

They found Archangel.


	7. Archangel

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Bioware... I'd make sure that DA3 doesn't disappoint as much as ME3's ending.  
More importantly. Joker and Vega would be romances if I owned Bioware.

~*~  
To the Stars  
Chapter 7: Archangel  
~*~

Cleaning blue blood off of Sabrina's face, the two of us stayed silent. Garrus was going through surgery; Chakwas and Mordin were doing everything they could to save the turian we'd grown close to years ago.

"It wasn't your fault." I whispered to her finally "Did you at least kill the son of a bitch that-"

"Yes, I killed the bad guys." Sabrina smiled at me weakly "I… I hope he survives."

"Garrus is a trooper; he's not going to let a missile kill him." I told my friend comfortingly, "It's a good thing you had Mordin with you at the time though."

At that we went into another silence, before it was broken by Sabrina's sobs. Pulling the older woman into a hug, I felt tears begin to pool in my eyes before I began to cry too.

Garrus was our friend, he had to live.

Hell, I knew we were all soldiers but… I lost Ashley, I lost Sabrina, Pressly, Tabitha… and now I might lose Garrus too. Sabrina was close to the turian also, and I knew that Ashley was already enough weight on her shoulders…

"He'll be fine, he'll be fine." I chanted through my tears, Sabrina nodding along before I broke out into a panicked laugh "If people could survive arrows to the knees, Garrus can survive a missile to the face. This isn't the medieval times anymore, right?"

Sabrina laughed at my words, and the two of us stayed like that for a little while longer before we finally calmed down enough to wipe away our tears and pick ourselves off the ground.

"I'm going to wait outside of the med bay." Sabrina told me hesitantly "I'll call you as soon as I get the news."

My heart dropped "But…" I wanted to wait for Garrus too.

"Please Kim, just… Go back to work with Joker. He's probably worried too…" Sabrina nearly begged "I… Start flying us to the Citadel. We might need to bring Garrus to a proper hospital and…" Sabrina stopped for a moment, putting on her commander face "You need to get some rest. You've been awake with me for hours."

I looked away from her, nodding before walking with her to the elevator "I'll be in the cockpit if you need me." Returning to the cockpit, Jeff gave me a worried look.

"You sure you want to be here right now? Normally when someone's in the med bay you're the one jumping around the ship helping out the doctors…"

"Sabrina ordered me to get some rest and tell you take us to the Citadel."

"On it CP. Go get some rest ok? You look exhausted."

I scoffed, laying down in my co-pilots seat and glaring at him "As much as I love the fact that Cerberus decided to give our crew actual beds… I think I'll stay here."

Jeff sighed but nodded, hitting the mute button on EDI's console "Sleep here then." He told me, "I'll wake you if anything changes."

I grumbled weak protests but complied, sinking into the seat tiredly. When I woke up, a blanket had been wrapped around me carefully, and I drowsily realized that the ship had been placed on autopilot. Looking around, I yawned as Jeff entered the cockpit with two mugs of coffee.

"Any news?" I asked him, taking the coffee "Thank you."

He shrugged "Chakwas told me Garrus is stabilized. We just need him to wake up now." Jeff grinned at me "I also might've fractured my thumb on the mute button, so Chakwas fixed that up too."

I rolled my eyes at him "Is hitting the mute button once not enough?"

The pilot stared at me seriously "It unmutes every half hour. Once is not enough. Anyways, I checked up on Shepard. She's a lot better now, so…"

Smiling at Jeff, I stood up and hugged him briefly before he sat down "Thanks Jeff. So, we almost at the Citadel?"

"ETA's an hour. You were sleeping for a long time." Jeff told me, fixing his hat and grinning "You really needed the rest. By the way, nice outfit."

I looked down, realizing that I was still wearing the clothes I'd gotten on Omega. Black tank top, cargo pants with multiple belts and black fingerless gloves. The only thing that wasn't new was the combat boots I kept on my feet. "Thanks, I think." I replied "Well, you have to admit, this one looks a lot better than the one Sabrina had in her cabin."

Jeff snorted "You can say that again."

An hour later, once we'd docked at the Citadel and Sabrina brought Mordin with her to meet with Anderson. I stayed in the cockpit with Jeff, eating some of the food I'd gotten from Omega.

It wasn't that great.

"Gardner mentioned that Sabrina might be buying him better rations from the Citadel." Jeff told me, "Seriously, where did you get this stuff? It tastes like plastic."

I groaned, throwing it back into a bag "I'm throwing this shit out. The Citadel has better food anyways." Standing up and turning to leave the cockpit, I let out a gasp when I saw a familiar turian stepping towards us "Garrus! You're awake!"

He grimaced when he attempted to smile at me "Chakwas wanted me to rest in the med bay, but I was practically climbing the walls… Whatever that means. Chakwas said it, not me."

Putting my food down and laughing at his words, I stepped forward to hug Garrus "So I heard you got three different merc groups to team up to kill you. Why didn't you tell me?"

If he was able to he would have grinned at me, but instead he shrugged "I was going to, but then I realized that if you moved to Omega to kill a bunch of bad guys I'd want to take some of the glory… And I didn't want to share."

"So greedy." I teased, picking up my crappy food again and maneuvering around him "Come on then, I'm just tossing this shit away. We can go get some coffee or… whatever turians drink, but I'm drinking more coffee. Does Sabrina know you're awake?"

"I was going to tell her myself, but apparently she's meeting with Anderson right now."

Jeff called after us "Glad you're back, Garrus!"

Garrus turned to acknowledge the pilot "Joker, good to see you're still alive. Didn't think you'd be joining Cerberus."

I coughed "Just him?"

"Good point. The fact that now we're all working for Cerberus… Why are we working for Cerberus, again?"

Shrugging, I replied "They brought Sabrina Shepard back from the dead. That's my reason."

Garrus nodded "It's a good enough reason I suppose… Is there a Mako on this ship that needs repairs?"

Jeff snorted "Oh god no. Pretty sure there's a giant gun on the crew deck you could work on if you're that eager to do something."

"Thanks for the suggestion Joker." The turian nodded at the pilot before turning back to me "So, to the mess hall I presume?"

"I'll count how many crew members run away from you in fright." I replied before glancing at Jeff "Hope you don't mind if I hang out with Garrus for a bit."

Sighing, Jeff waved me away "Go already. I can survive a few more hours with only the AI for company."

"Aw, don't be that way." I teased "I'll be back before you know it."

"Sure, sure."

Garrus and I then left the cockpit. As soon as we were inside of the elevator, the turian spoke up.

"So Kim, it's nice to see that you and Joker are still getting along. Guess that things haven't changed that much since the last Normandy."

"…Is this going to turn into one of those elevator conversations that Sabrina always tells me about?"


	8. Purgatory and Thieves

~*~  
To the Stars  
Chapter 8: Purgatory and Thieves.  
~*~

"Hey there,"

"HOLY FUCK!" I shouted at the voice that seemingly came from nowhere. I jumped back, tripped, and fell onto the floor of the Normandy. A woman wearing a black hood stood above me, giggling at my reaction.

"You're just as adorable as Shep said. Hi, I'm Kasumi." She greeted, waving at me cheerfully. "Master thief, at your service."

I held my chest, breathing heavily "K-Kim." I let out a sigh of relief "You scared me."

"Oh I know. That was the funniest reaction I've seen out of everyone. Even better than Joker's, and he nearly broke a bone."

Helping me up, Kasumi winked at me "See you around Kim. Maybe we can hang out later."

I nodded and laughed awkwardly "Sure thing Kasumi. See you around." Entering the cockpit, I pulled my uniform out from the storage locker located on the wall behind my seat. We'd recently docked into Purgatory… A prison station in the Osun system of the Hourglass Nebula. Now we were just waiting for Sabrina to come back with Zaeed, Garrus, and some convict that Cerberus wanted Sabrina to pick up. Why they wanted her to work with someone that'd been locked up in a maximum security prison was beyond me.

"So, you met Kasumi." Jeff teased lightly "That security footage brightened my day."

"Send me a copy, will you?" Kasumi appeared behind him, leaning against his seat. The pilot flinched when she appeared.

"Damn it Kasumi." Jeff hissed "Really creepy!"

Kasumi shrugged at Jeff innocently "Sorry Joker."

I giggled, pulling my Cerberus uniform shirt over my tank top. "Didn't think I'd be seeing you again so soon."

Winking at me, the thief tossed me a cloaking chip "I'd use that if you're going to be changing in here, Joker has some pretty weird extranet tabs."

Jeff pulled his hat over his face in embarrassment "I'm not going to look! Jesus Kasumi."

Shrugging, I activated the cloak anyways as I switched from my civvies to my uniform "Thanks for the cloak Kasumi. I've always wanted one of these."

"No problem Kim." Kasumi told me, disappearing once more and (hopefully) leaving.

Sitting back down next to Jeff, I grinned at him "So, we got Garrus back."

"Yeah, he was totally my favourite. With that pole up his ass."

I chocked on my laugh as EDI's voice rang from her console "I do not believe that Officer Vakarian has a pole up his-"

"He's just kidding around EDI." I told the AI helpfully, smile on my face "But really, it's nice to see him again. I think Sabrina's really happy he's ok too… They were pretty close on the original Normandy."

Jeff snorted "Yeah, tell me about it. Sometimes I thought she was sleeping with Garrus, not Kaidan, but hey… she and Garrus are just friends."

Pondering the idea of Sabrina and Garrus dating, I spoke up "Jeff, I bet you a thousand credits that she and Garrus are going to get into a relationship."

We stared at each other, me with determination and him with disbelief.

Finally, Jeff tapped a few buttons on his Omni-tool "They're not getting together."

I grinned; Jeff never had the best luck when it came to betting against me.

EDI's voice spoke from her nearby console "It appears Commander Shepard is fighting her way out of Purgatory."

My head hit the back of my seat and I groaned "Of course this wasn't going to be easy. Ok, EDI… Patch me through to her earpiece?"

"Of course, Kim."

"Sabrina Shepard, you damn well better get your ass back here in one piece. What are our orders?"

"_Make sure the Normandy is ready to go as soon as we step foot onto that ship."_

"We're on it Commander." I replied, tapping on my control console "All systems are prepped and ready to go."

"Board is green." Jeff told me seriously, "I think we're good here."

A few minutes later Sabrina stepped back onto the Normandy, a pretty tattooed woman stepping in after her with Garrus and Zaeed coming in last.

"Kim, Joker, let's go!" Sabrina ordered before nodding at convict "Jack, meet me in the communications room. Garrus, Zaeed: Dismissed."

We flew the ship out of the prison quickly, and I flinched at the site of it exploding just as we'd gotten out "That was close."

Jeff yawned "It wasn't so bad. A lot less stressful than Therum." The pilot nodded at Sabrina "By the way Shepard, glad you're back… But keep an eye on that last one. We can only hold so much crazy."

Sabrina smirked at him with amusement "I'll keep that in mind, Joker."

I stretched "So, now that we're safe from the exploding prison… Where to next, Sabrina?"

"It's time to pick up some Krogan warlord on Korlus."

Scanning my brain for the planet name, I spoke up "Oh, that's in the-"

"Imir System of the Eagle Nebula. Second planet." EDI cut me off, and I glared at her console.

"Thanks EDI." I growled, standing up and checking my inbox "Oh hey, Jeff, mind if I take some personal time? Kenneth and Gabby invited me to play a round of poker with them."

Jeff nodded, while EDI spoke up "Kim, your compulsion to gamble-"

"Yada yada yada. I'm addicted to gambling. I know, stop nagging me _mom_." I snapped, grinning at Sabrina as I passed "Tell the new girl she's free to join us in engineering if she wants."

Sabrina smirked "You'll have your hands full…"

"I don't care!" I sang, heading down to the engineering deck and greeting Kenneth and Gabby with a grin.

"Hey Kim." Gabby greeted with a small wave "Did you hear about the crazy woman we have squatting down in the sub deck?"

Before I could respond, Kenneth instantly snapped his head up with a spark of rage in his eyes "What? If she touches anything I'll kill her."

Gabby smirked "Oh, and the only thing she wears up from her waist is tattoo's."

The male engineer's mood instantly changed "Oh, maybe I should go down and welcome her aboard."

"Oh, and she has biotic powers that could crush you with a blink… hates everyone in Cerberus…"

"Damn it girl, stop toying with me."

I snorted, and the two turned to face me "You two are hilarious."

"Why thank you, Lass." Kenneth replied with a mocking bow "Glad that we could entertain."

Gabby sighed "Sorry about that Kim. Should we start playing…?"

We played a couple of rounds before the two engineers had to return to work, and as I headed towards the elevator I heard some-

BANG.

Rushing down the stairs, I was thrown back by a wave of biotic energy and slammed into a nearby wall.

"Ow…" I groaned, picking myself up off the ground while the tattooed girl glared at me "Sorry, I heard some crashing down here I thought someone was in trouble or something." I explained, straightening my clothes "I'm Kim, it's nice to meet you. I guess."

"I'm Jack." She responded after a moment "I thought you might've been the Cerberus Cheerleader, so…"

Realizing that she wasn't going to apologize, I sighed "Well, I'm the co-pilot of this ship…" I started, "So, I should probably head back to the cockpit."

"Hey kid, tell me first…" Jack scrutinized me "You don't look Cerberus. Why're you on a Cerberus ship?"

I grinned weakly "They brought Sabrina, er… Shepard back to life. I'm not on this ship because I like Cerberus, hell… They've pretty much replaced me with an AI. I'm here for Shepard."

Jack scoffed, and I said a quiet goodbye to her before heading back up the stairs. The very last moment though, the biotic stopped me.

"Hey… sorry for slamming you into a wall. Warn me you're coming down next time." Jack called, and I paused for a moment, replying loudly.

"Sure thing, Jack!"

As soon as I was safely in the elevator, I vidchatted Gabby on my Omni-tool. Her face instantly appeared on the holographic screen, and she tilted her head to the side in concern.

"_What's up, Kim?"_

"Don't let Kenneth go down to the sub deck."

_Author's Note: Am I the only one that thought Jack was a guy at first?  
Also, sorry for not really getting into the ME2-ness. And for the lack of contact between Joker and Kim… I feel as though Kim's being a BIT too kind to him so let's just say she's subconsciously staying away from him._


	9. The Warlord

~*~  
To the Stars  
Chapter 9: The Warlord  
~*~

"Finally, a mission where I get to fly you to the ground." I grinned at Sabrina, Garrus and Kasumi smiling back at me while Sabrina rolled her eyes.

"Just don't crash." Sabrina told me, to which I replied with a wild laugh "You're crazy."

"Aw Shep, I think she's just excited." Kasumi voiced kindly "It's not often she actually gets to get off the Normandy."

"Except for, you know… when we're on Omega… Or the Citadel…"

Garrus's mandibles moved to simulate a smile "Shepard, come on. We both know it's not the same."

Sabrina sighed "Ok, ok… Anyways, I don't want any comm chatter. I'll contact you once we're ready to be picked up. After you've dropped us, get back to the Normandy."

"Sure thing Sabs." I replied, opening the shuttle doors and flying out of range of the ground forces before heading back to the Normandy. Landing back inside of the Normandy, I was greeted by Eric as soon as I exited the shuttle.

"Hey Kim, was she flying all right?" Eric asked me, and I nodded back at him brightly.

"Yeah, she's fun to fly." I replied, sitting down and drinking some bottled water "So uh, what do you do down here Eric? Other than repairing the shuttle."

"Well, I can fly her if I need to." The man shrugged "Though I think she has a good enough pilot for now." Eric grinned at me "I haven't seen your skills firsthand, but you'd think that by now you'd be a full-fledged pilot instead of just a shuttle pilot… or a co-pilot."

Jeff's voice rang over to comm speakers _"Yeah well, she doesn't need all that rank crap anyways."_

I rolled my eyes "Jeff, are you spying on me?"

"_No. I was just checking if you brought the shuttle back in one piece."_

Eric chuckled, "What a disruption of privacy, Flight Lieutenant. Can't I spend some time with Kim without you listening in?"

I smiled "I think he's just cranky about me leaving him alone with EDI. Don't worry Jeff! I'll head back up to the cockpit after I've picked Sabrina and the others back up."

"_Yeah and then you can take over flying for a bit. I'm exhausted."_

"There is such thing as autopilot." I sang, standing up and looking around to try and spot the security cameras.

"I could always try flying the ship if you're that tired, Joker." Eric called, to which Jeff scoffed.

"_No offense, but the only other person I trust enough to fly my baby is Kim."_

For a moment I was touched, but those feelings were quickly overridden with anger when Eric responded to Jeff's words.

"Considering the fact that the first Normandy was destroyed with you flying it, I'm surprised you even trust yourself with it."

Almost instantly I slapped the taller man, glaring at him with a fire in my eyes "You weren't there, Crewman Ross." I stated coldly "Apologize to Mr. Moreau."

Only I should've been able to say such things to the Normandy's pilot.

Eric touched his cheek, which was now reddening from my slap. He stared down at me apologetically, offering a weak smile before speaking up "Sorry Joker… that was rude of me. And Kim… I shouldn't have spoken so harshly about things I don't know everything about. I hope you can forgive me."

After a moment of contemplation I hesitantly nodded "Fine…"

The crewman beamed at me "Next time we're on Omega, or the Citadel, drinks are on me."

"_I hope I'm part of those drinks too Ross." _Jeff growled over the comm, and I smiled.

"Even if they aren't, I'll pay for you Jeff. Anyways-"

"_Normandy?" _Sabrina's voice rang over my earpiece _"Okeer is a no-go, but we have a package that needs retrieving... And he's a big one."_

"Tracing your location." I responded "I'll be there to pick you up ASAP." Stepping back onto the shuttle, Eric grabbed my wrist to stop me for a moment.

"I really am sorry Kim." He told me, charming smile appearing on his face once more "Hope you're not mad."

I stayed silent for a moment before shrugging "It's fine Eric, just… It's fine."

Shuttle door closing, I grinned as Jeff's voice came over my earpiece _"It's not actually fine, right? Because he's only acting that way to get on your good side you know."_

"And how do you know that, Jeff? Maybe he's just a good person deep down."

"_Please, it's obvious that he likes you. That's why he asked you out for drinks. You going to date him or what?"_

I snorted "Jeff, if I'm going to date anyone… It's not going to be the guy that tells you what I should be telling you."

"_Yeah thanks for that. I guess." _Jeff scoffed _"Be sure to let me know next time he makes a move on you, just so I can laugh at his attempts."_

"You're horrible, Jeff." I replied "Now get off the comm, we can talk more once I'm back."

"_Good, because I'm tired of being stuck alone with the AI."_

Smiling, I landed the shuttle and opened the doors to greet Sabrina "Hey Sabs, so where's the package- Oh. Whoa." I gaped at the large tank that held a krogan that was well… a krogan. "Ok, ok… Well, are you going to wake him up?" I asked, and Sabrina nodded.

"Once we're back on the Normandy." Sabrina explained "Can the shuttle carry him?"

"Well yeah, the shuttle can use magnets to carry the tank underneath it. I'll just…" turning on my earpiece I radioed Jeff "Hey Jeff, could you fly the Normandy closer?"

"_Sure thing CP."_

Once we'd gotten the krogan onto the ship, I decided to visit Jack while I was on the lower levels. The biotic acted cold towards me, but I figured it was because she wasn't used to having other people around her just to be nice. Then I'd heard the sound of someone being slammed against a wall, and I quickly bid the biotic goodbye and ran up to the port cargo: The place where Sabrina had placed the tank. Entering the room, I stared at Sabrina as she shook hands with the krogan, a pistol in her hand.

"Hey Kim, meet Grunt!" Sabrina grinned.

The krogan turned to smile at me "Hmm… Heh. Heh. Heh."

He had a very evil laugh.


	10. Horizen

_Author's Note: Ya'll see my profile pic? That's me in my incomplete N7 armor. Photoshopped it so that it looked more complete than it actually is._

_Sorry for the late updates ya'll, hope I still have readers. And this chappie is extra crap so I super apologize... Swears that the next one will be better_

~*~  
To the Stars  
Chapter 10: Horizon  
~*~

After I'd dropped Sabrina, Garrus, and Grunt off on Horizon I flew straight to the Normandy. Eric had asked if he could do the pickup, which I was fine with... even if I was still a bit annoyed with him. Stepping back onto the cockpit, Jeff turned to face me.

"We lost communications with Shepard." He told me first, and I nodded hesitantly.

"It's probably just the collector ship screwing with our communications, she'll be fine."

Jeff nodded, changing the subject quickly "So I heard Shepard got a pet krogan. Did she collect stray cats as a kid or something? Because we really needed a mega-krogan, so… Thanks for letting her bring him home."

"Just wait," I snickered "Next thing we know she'll be picking up a stray geth."

The pilot turned serious "You have got to be kidding me."

"If I'm right, then I think you'll need to buy me something stronger than a strawberry margarita." I told him "Because considering, you know, Saren?"

"I hope to god you're wrong about the pet geth thing." Jeff replied, turning back to the controls "By the way-"

Mordin's voice cut him off over our comm system _"Kim… would like to see you."_

I sighed "I'll be right back Jeff."

Stepping into Mordin's lab, I waved at the salarian "Hey Mordin, you asked to see me?"

"Ah yes, think I've cured Joker's condition. Simple treatment would... No, no, no, no. Would cause liver failure. Never mind. Start from scratch." Mordin scowled for a moment, shaking his head "Apologies. Anyways, updating crew dental records. Do you have a cyanide capsule in your-"

I paled "Hell no."

The salarian nodded, "Also, wondering if you've been sleeping properly. EDI-"

"I've been sleeping just fine Mordin." I smiled "Is that all?"

Mordin nodded "For now. Will need you to go to Dr. Chakwas for a full check-up when you have time. Joker too."

"I'll be sure to tell him." I replied "Anything else?"

"No, no. Will call if anything comes up." Mordin waved me away, returning to his work. I sighed, smile on my face as I returned to the cockpit. EDI's console lit up as I entered, Jeff tapping away at the console seriously.

"Mr. Moreau, Kim has returned." EDI spoke, and I sighed.

"I can tell him myself, EDI. Hey Jeff, Mordin wants us to see Chakwas later. Ok?"

"Yeah, sure thing." Jeff replied absently "Hey, can you help me out here? I'm trying to get a signal through…"

Settling into my seat, I grinned "Can't do that without me?"

"Well, duh." The pilot replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world "You're the tech expert, remember?"

Humming in agreement, I began tapping on the console. My console flickered for a moment and I squinted in annoyance "There appears to be lag."

Jeff sighed "I was having that problem too. I swear; aero-gel displays and optical solid-states are so primitive. I can hardly wait for the future!"

Ignoring him, I tapped a few buttons on my Omni-tool "Ok, that should fix it."

Grinning at me, Jeff spoke up "Yeah that helped. Thanks."

"…You're looking up porn right now, aren't you?"

Sabrina's voice blasted over my earpiece _"Normandy, you guys there? HELLO!"_

Rolling my eyes at Jeff I quickly turned on my mic "Hey Sabs. We're here; it's a weak signal though."

"_Can EDI get these defense towers online?"_ The Commander asked, eerily calm.

The AI sparked to life, electronic voice ringing throughout the cockpit "Errors in the calibration software are easily rectified, but it will take time to get the towers to full power. I recommend a defensive posture. I will not be able to mask the increased generator output."

"_We'll stall them. Should be easy enough."_

I groaned, shaking my head "…Sabs…"

"_I just jinxed it, didn't I?"_


End file.
